|
||
| |
||
|
The Pharaoh
Menes (pronounced MEE-nes) is the first pharaoh we know about. Menes united two kingdoms, called Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt and established what we now call the “Old Kingdom” about 3100BC. Menes’ tomb wasn’t discovered until 1897. Royal families often intermarried because they did not want to produce children with common people. This was the case for Thutmose II, an Egyptian pharaoh who lived around 1500BC. Thutmose married his half-sister Hatshepsut. Thutmose II had a son, Thutmose III, by a minor wife. When Thutmose II died his son, Thutmose III became phaorah. However, Hatshepsut was appointed regent because of the boy's young age. A regent is someone who rules for a monarch if they are too young to rule. Hatshepsut and Thutmose III ruled jointly until Hatshepsut declared herself pharaoh. Dressed in men’s attire, Hatshepsut administered the affairs of the nation. Hatshepsut disappeared shortly after Thutmose III led a revolt to reclaim the throne. Thutmose then destroyed Hatshepsut’s shrines and statues. Akhenaton was a monotheistic pharaoh who ruled with his
queen, Nefertiti from 1352BC to 1336BC. They worshipped Aten, a god of
the sun. Akhenaton and Nefrititi forbade their subje Tutankhamen became pharaoh shortly after Akhenaton’s death. He was only nine years old, but was married to the daughter of Akhenaton and Nefertiti. The “boy king” never became a “man king” because he died of a head injury only nine years into his rule. Most of the treasures of the pyramids were plundered, but by accident Tutankhamen’s tomb remained intact because it was buried by rock chips dumped from the cutting of a tomb of a later pharaoh. The tomb lay hidden for more than three thousand years until British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered it in 1922. Carter’s discovery made “King Tut” and his buried treasures famous. |
||
To cite this page: |
The
Egyptians believed their pharaoh was both a god and a monarch. A monarch
is a king or a queen. Egypt was ruled by many pharaohs, but a few stand
out.
cts
to worship of any other gods. They built great statues to Aten and ordered
that statues honoring any other god be destroyed. Most Egyptians did not
take the faith of their leaders, and after their death, statues of Aten
were destroyed.